Chapter 6 - Low-Input Technology: An Integrative View

Abstract

Low external input agriculture has become an important element of development programs aimed at strengthening crop management capacities for resource-poor farmers. Strategies that seek alternatives to the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides often involve particular philosophical or political stances about the development process, but they also provide valuable insights into the nature of agricultural change. By examining experiences with promoting this kind of technology, we can draw some general lessons about agricultural development. Adoption patterns for low-input technology are, perhaps surprisingly, little different from those for conventional technology. Better-resourced farmers are favored, and those with links to markets. The fact that an increasing amount of farm labor is hired draws attention to the increasing differentiation of the countryside. Innovative group methods for extension may encourage participants to test new technologies, but are rarely the spark that ignites wider diffusion. The experience examined here with uptake of low external input technology indicates that we need a realistic examination of the incentives for investing in new agricultural technology (of any kind), and a robust and coordinated set of strategies for providing information to farmers.